Self-esteem and Psychological Well-being: Implications of Fragile Self-esteem

We examined the extent to which self-esteem (SE) Level and SE Stability predicted scores on Ryff's (1989) multidimensional measure of psychological well-being. Main effects for SE Level emerged on all six subscales, indicating that high self-esteem was associated with greater well-being than was low self-esteem. In addition, main effects for SE Stability emerged for the autonomy, environmental mastery, and purpose in life subscales, indicating that stable SE was associated with higher scores than was unstable SE. Finally, SE Level × SE Stability interactions emerged for the self-acceptance, positive relations, and personal growth subscales indicating more complex relationships between self-esteem and these aspects of well-being. Theoretical implications of the relationship between fragile self-esteem and positive psychological functioning are discussed.